Badminton

We have all been there. On the unfortunate end of a call from a teammate who can’t make it last minute. A late email from a sub who can no longer commit to filling-in for your teammate. Worse yet, someone just not showing up. You’re probably thinking ‘Great - how do I beat my opponent of two people when I’m playing by myself?’. It’s definitely unfortunate being stuck in that situation, but not impossible to come out on top. Within this article, you will receive a few tips on how to defeat your opponents SOLO. That’s right baby, it’s your time to shine.

If you’re new to Badminton, you might take one look at the serving rules and rally-point scoring system and say, “what the heck is this?!” Don’t worry; we know that it can be a bit intimidating at first, but we promise you, it's not as complicated as you may think! Here’s a bit of a breakdown to help you out before hitting the court.

First, these are some key things to keep in mind:

We’ve all been there – you go to hit the birdie and can’t quite decide if your going for a lob or smash. There are a variety of different types of badminton shots, but in this article we’ll be focusing on these two essential shots.

The Lob
The lob is also known as a “clear”. The goal of this shot is to send the shuttle to your opponents’ baseline. The trajectory of this shot is a high curve with a drop at the end of the court.

We have all experienced those players on our team, you know, the one who only shows up to about 40% of your league games. Their excuses are always (somewhat) valid – “I’m swamped at work,” “My car got stuck in the snow,” “I had to feed Mr. Meowington” – but they usually pay their league fees in full and they’re always up for a post-game beer, so we put up with them anyway.

You don’t want to play short (again) so you need to find a sub. This can sometimes be a tedious task, so here are a few tips to help simplify your quest:

WHO TO ASK

For beginner level players, teammates will sometimes discuss before a match ‘would you like to play front and back or sides’… and sometimes they just play not knowing what that even means. Depending on player skillset or preference, teams might choose to do one or the other (or neither) and maintain this positioning throughout the entirety of the match. Unfortunately, this can make it difficult to be successful in matches, especially if you play against skilled opponents.

Our Event Coordinators are players just like you that volunteer to help facilitate our Indoor Volleyball, Badminton, Flag Football, Ultimate, and Tennis leagues. They play a huge role in ensuring that all players enjoy themselves each and every night. Tasks include bringing equipment to the gym/field, setting up, doing the pre-game announcements, keeping the games on time, reporting the scores to the office, and more!

In the spirit of the ESSC’s motto: ‘fun-first, winning-second’ this article lists a few tips to practice good etiquette and take the ‘bad’ out of badminton.

If you’ve taken time to read through some of our earlier Badminton articles, then you should have a solid understanding of the game’s format as well as positioning. Building upon this foundation, we can now explore some of the most common shots in Badminton and when best to use them.

Now that you’ve been introduced to the basics of playing the game and scorekeeping in previous headline articles, it’s time to talk strategy! If you’re ready to push your game to the next level, then you’ve come to the right place – I’m going to outline some tactics that are commonly used in doubles Badminton. These pointers will give you the upper hand on the court!

So you registered for ESSC Badminton but need to purchase a racket. Or maybe you have one, but it hasn’t seen the light of day since middle school, and it’s time to get rid of the hand-me-down wooden racket. Fear not, you’ve come to the right place! No matter your skill level, or how seriously you take the sport, this article will give you a quick overview of things to look for when deciding on a new racket.

First things first - What to look for when shopping for a new racket: